When they reached Li Family Bridge, they passed through Guihua Village.
Because there were many people in the carriage, it was quite cramped. When the carriage curtain was lifted, they saw the hillside next to Dahong Mountain in Daha Village, packed with people.
Zhao Anjiang said in surprise, "Didn't Guihua Village have no one willing to organize the digging of the irrigation ditch?"
Steward Yuan sneered, "There's a natural water source on the mountain, but this disorganized mob isn't united at all. So, we can only send yamen runners to supervise them while they work."
What Guihua Village could have resolved on its own repeatedly required the deployment of yamen runners. By then, the county magistrate could collect a little more tax from Guihua Village.
For example, if the normal tax was one-tenth of the yield per mu of land, Guihua Village might have to pay two-tenths. Villages that needed the county's help to find water sources would have to pay three-tenths. If villages didn't have enough manpower, the county would help mobilize men from other villages to assist. The county would pay for the labor, and by then, the tax these villages would have to pay would be at least five-tenths...
The carriage hadn't fully passed yet when a boisterous sound came from Guihua Village.
It turned out that while digging the ditch, they hit a large rock, blocking the path ahead. A group of people couldn't continue working and wanted to gather to rebel.
Village Head Zhao was very familiar with this kind of situation. He immediately told the carriage to stop and jumped out. The Village Head led Zhao Ergou to go over there. Fortunately, the Village Head of Guihua Village was also a reasonable person, and with the county magistrate's carriage stopped in the distance, he didn't dare to be reckless. Village Head Zhao gesticulated in front of him for a while, and the Village Head of Guihua Village didn't object, hurriedly calling people to gather firewood, start a fire, and boil water...
Back in the carriage, the Village Head received an approving look from the county magistrate.
The Village Head coughed, "This idea was Ergou's mother's. If it weren't for Ergou's mother, our Daha Village wouldn't have been able to dig the ditch."
The county magistrate nodded; that woman seemed to be very knowledgeable.
Zhao Ergou remained silent.
He really wanted to say that the method for finding the water source was also thought of by his mother, but his mother wouldn't let him tell others.
His mother truly loved him and wanted to give all the credit to him.
In the future, he must be filial to his mother, so that she would become the woman admired by everyone in the village.
The carriage quickly left Daha Village.
The village suddenly became lively.
A crowd of people stood packed in front of Cheng Loanloan's house. Most people were utterly astonished; they didn't dare to look at the county magistrate. Who would have thought that Dashan's mother could talk to the county magistrate without changing her expression! Dashan's mother was truly brave, not afraid of the county magistrate at all! They didn't know what she had said to the county magistrate.
Cheng Loanloan said with a smile, "The county magistrate is like a parent official; he can't bear to see the rice plants wither and die in the fields like this. He wants Ergou to help find a water source and dig an irrigation ditch."
The villagers showed disdain. Finding a water source was not an easy task; what ability did Ergou have?
"Helping other villages is actually helping ourselves," Cheng Loanloan began.
"If only our village has a good harvest, and other villages have a bad harvest, do you know what the consequences will be?"
Everyone around instantly fell silent.
The consequence was being robbed of their grain.
Auntie Wang gritted her teeth and said, "Doesn't our village have a patrol team? They won't let people like that get their way."
"The patrol team was established to protect our food, but there's no logic in guarding against thieves in broad daylight. We can't fight people who are on the verge of starvation," Cheng Loan Loan said slowly. "Even if no one steals our food, the town might still collect our grain and then distribute it evenly among all the villages... At that point, we'd only be able to eat wild vegetables and plain soup every day."
The villagers understood.
Today, Guihua Village began digging an irrigation canal, diverting water from their Dadong Mountain. Many people were displeased, but with the yamen runners supervising, they didn't dare to cause trouble.
Now that Cheng Loan Loan had spoken, they realized they had almost caused a problem.
Guihua Village absolutely needed water. It would be best if other villages also found water and dug canals. Otherwise, if Dahe Village had a good harvest one day, they wouldn't know how many people would envy them.